There were 68 votes in favor of the proposal in the 120-member chamber, with the leftist coalition, which has 61 seats, getting the backing of small ethnic Albanian parties. Opposition lawmakers left the chamber in protest, abstaining from the vote.
A man holds the old national flag during a protest in front of the parliament building in Skopje, North Macedonia, on Saturday, July 16, 2022. North Macedonia parliament’s majority backed French proposal on Saturday that opens the way for the country’s hopes of eventually joining the European Union amid a dispute with Bulgaria. (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski)
Protesters gathered again outside Parliament, as they have done every day for 10 days, but the protest ended peacefully.
People wave the old and the current national flags and chant slogans during a protest, in front of the parliament building in Skopje, North Macedonia, on Saturday, July 16, 2022. North Macedonia parliament’s majority backed French proposal on Saturday that opens the way for the country’s hopes of eventually joining the European Union amid a dispute with Bulgaria. (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski)
The deal would also unblock the start of negotiations for neighboring Albania, another EU hopeful.
Macron had stressed that the proposal doesn’t question the official existence of a Macedonian language, but he had noted that, like all deals, it “rests on compromises and on a balance.”
People wave the old and the current national flags and chant slogans during a protest, while police officers guard the entrance of the parliament building in Skopje, North Macedonia, on Saturday, July 16, 2022. North Macedonia parliament’s majority backed French proposal on Saturday that opens the way for the country’s hopes of eventually joining the European Union amid a dispute with Bulgaria. (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski)
But revising the constitution may prove too high a hurdle, since that requires a two-thirds majority, or 80 votes. The main opposition party, the center-right VMRO-DPMNE, and its allies, as well as a small leftist party, with 46 seats among them, have declared they will never agree to change the constitution.
Ruling coalition’s lawmakers vote in favor of the French proposal on a session in the Parliament building in Skopje, North Macedonia, on Saturday, July 16, 2022. North Macedonia parliament’s majority backed French proposal on Saturday that opens the way for the country’s hopes of eventually joining the European Union amid a dispute with Bulgaria. (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski)
Later Saturday, after a cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski announced that North Macedonia will start accession talks with EU on July 19.
People hold some of the old national flags during a protest in front of the parliament building in Skopje, North Macedonia, on Saturday, July 16, 2022. North Macedonia parliament’s majority backed French proposal on Saturday that opens the way for the country’s hopes of eventually joining the European Union amid a dispute with Bulgaria. (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski)
“With this, we conclude another objectively historical step for our country. We have a negotiating framework in which the Macedonian language and identity are protected,” he said.
Ruling coalition’s lawmakers and cabinet ministers congratulate each other after the voting in the Parliament building in Skopje, North Macedonia, on Saturday, July 16, 2022. North Macedonia parliament’s majority backed French proposal on Saturday that opens the way for the country’s hopes of eventually joining the European Union amid a dispute with Bulgaria. (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski)
The country’s ruling coalition has backed the proposal as a reasonable compromise that doesn’t endanger national interests or identity, while the opposition has denounced it a national betrayal that caves in to Bulgaria’s questioning North Macedonia’s history, language, identity, culture and heritage.
North Macedonia’s Prime Minister Dimitar Kovacevski, center, speaks for the media in presence of Vice Prime Minister Began Maricic, front left, Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani front right and other cabinet ministers in the Government building in Skopje, North Macedonia, on Saturday, July 16, 2022. Leftist North Macedonia’s cabinet has officially accepted French proposal on an urgent meeting later on Saturday. Prime minister Dimitar Kovacevski said that North Macedonia will start accession talks with EU on July 19. (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski)
The French proposal has also roiled Bulgaria, where Prime Minister Kiril Petkov has accepted it. His centrist government was toppled in a no-confidence vote on June 22 when allies described Petkov’s willingness to lift the veto of North Macedonia into the EU as a “national betrayal.”
North Macedonia’s Prime Minister Dimitar Kovacevski, center, speaks for the media in presence of his cabinet ministers in the Government building in Skopje, North Macedonia, on Saturday, July 16, 2022. Leftist North Macedonia’s cabinet has officially accepted French proposal on an urgent meeting later on Saturday. Prime minister Dimitar Kovacevski said that North Macedonia will start accession talks with EU on July 19. (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski)
EU and US leaders welcomed North Macedonia’s decision to back the deal.
Charles Michel, president of the European Council, called the parliament’s vote “a crucial step for North Macedonia and the EU. Our future is together and we welcome you with open arms.”
An improvised guillotine with a banner reading in Macedonian “French Proposal”, is set near a police cordon guarding the parliament building, during a protest in Skopje, North Macedonia, on Saturday, July 16, 2022. North Macedonia parliament’s majority backed French proposal on Saturday that opens the way for the country’s hopes of eventually joining the European Union amid a dispute with Bulgaria. (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski)
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said “this decision comes at a critical moment for North Macedonia, the Western Balkans, and Europe.”
Police officer holds his shield during a protest in front of the parliament building in Skopje, North Macedonia, on Saturday, July 16, 2022. North Macedonia parliament’s majority backed French proposal on Saturday that opens the way for the country’s hopes of eventually joining the European Union amid a dispute with Bulgaria. (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski)
“A European Union that includes all of the Western Balkans, including Albania and North Macedonia, will be stronger and more prosperous. Now is the time to build momentum,” Blinken said in a statement.
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama also hailed North Macedonian parliament’s decision, which also opens the way for EU talks for his country too.
“This is not the end of the road but only the beginning of a new part of the road we want Albania to be in,” he said.
